Crestview slips by St. John's

MIDDLE POINT - Against Delphos St. John's in a regular-season volleyball matchup earlier this season, it took Crestview five games before they put the Blue Jays away.

Delphos St. John's (8-9) did not make Tuesday's Division IV district semifinal match any easier either as Crestview (18-5) was forced to play four games before defeating the Blue Jays 25-18, 18-25, 25-19, 25-23.

With the win, Crestview will face Marion Local at 3 p.m. Saturday at Coldwater in a district final matchup. Marion Local defeated New Bremen on Tuesday to advance.

In the fourth game, Crestview watched its 20-10 lead nearly vanish as St. John's battled back, cutting the deficit to 24-23.

However, the Knights were able to put the Blue Jays away down the stretch, en route to a hard-fought 25-23 victory.

Crestview coach Tammy Gregory said she has gotten accustomed to watching teams make runs at her squad.

"That's been us all year," Gregory said. "We're used to giving them three, four, five points ... then we'd battle back.

"We knew coming in that we couldn't have those errors. But, they really stepped up when they had to."

Gregory said she emphasized to her team to play aggressively for the entire match.

"During practice this week, we worked on being aggressive at the net and making them work," she said.

Kelsey Nedderman and Carly Lichtensteiger anchored the Knights net attack. Nedderman recorded 13 kills and had 10 blocks. Lichtensteiger slammed down 12 kills on the night.

Crestview outside hitter Taylor Hamrick made the Blue Jays work for their shots as she made 10 digs for the Knights.

Gregory said that not only was her team's net play solid against the Blue Jays, but the performance in the back row was stellar as well.

"Our back row was phenomenal tonight," Gregory said. "They really made their hitters work."

St. John's net play made the Knights work hard, too. Ashley Jettinghoff led the Blue Jays with 14 kills. Teammate Lindsy Reindel had 13 kills and seven blocks. Nicole Wallenhorst added seven kills and eight blocks.

Delphos St. John's coach Kaila Cook said Crestview played with a purpose.

"It was back and forth up until that fourth game," Cook said. "But, Crestview came out and played with a purpose."